FREE ‘Love Yourself’ Fitness and Nutrition Program starts next Monday!

Dear Clients, Friends and Family,

Next Monday is Valentine’s Day. In honor of this special day, I am going to launch a ‘Love Yourself’ fitness program. Every week, I will provide you with exercise and nutrition tips and live video clips that you can follow along with anywhere – home, work, hotel…

To help you mentally and physically prepare, here’s what I need you to do.

1st. Grab a sheet of paper and pen. If you’re not working out right now, ask yourself why it’s important that you start. What about your current situation are you not content with? How would your life be better if you were looking and feeling your best? Keep asking yourself why it’s important to you that you start taking better care of yourself. If you are currently exercising, ask yourself why you are ready to ramp things up a bit? Are you ready to take things to the next level? Finding the compelling reason to stick to an exercise and nutrition plan every day no matter what is the most important thing you can do as you launch a new program.

2nd: Go Shopping for Food – If you workout already consistently, achieving a lean physique is about 90% nutrition. So it’s time to get focused and serious about what you put in your body. So here are some good nutritious items to stock up on. Go through the list and pick up those items that you would enjoy eating regularly.

Whole Grains:

Oatmeal

Cold cereal – Cherrios, , Bran, Granola

100% whole grain bread or English muffins (or other bread products)

100% whole wheat pitas

100% whole wheat tortillas

100% whole wheat pizza shells

Brown Rice

100% whole wheat pasta

Meats (I will let you choose whether you include meat into your diet or not):

Frozen Meals – Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice – When you’re too tired to cook or in a hurry, these are life savers. They are low in salt, calories, fat and Trans-fats plus they’re actually quite yummy! Nothing better than the real thing though, however, this would be a better fast-food choice that a hamburger joint.

Apples/Pears/Grapes/Bananas/Oranges/Grapefruit/Tangerines – plus whatever is in season

Spices/Extras:

Olive oil

Salt/Pepper/Garlic

Soy sauce – low sodium

Balsamic vinegar

Salad dressing/Salad spritzers – vinaigrettes are a great choice

Marinara sauce

Cinnamon

Other favorite spices

Flaxseed

Psyliium

Snack-Foods:

Rice Cakes

Popcorn

Nuts – raw walnuts/almonds unsalted– don’t buy too much. And once you get them home, put them in mini-ziplock snack bags separated 10 to a bag

Dried fruits – apricots, cranberries, apples…

If you have a real sweet tooth and are looking for healthier options to prevent the 500 plus calorie dessert binges, try the following:

Yogurt and granola

Weight-watcher deserts – they typically keep them at 100 calories per serving

Pudding cups – 60 calories per cup

Gum/Small bag of hard candies – when you feel a craving coming on, chew on some gum or pop a hard candy and suck on it for a while. It will often do the trick.

Frozen yogurt – but just buy the smaller cartons to prevent eating a whole gallon

Step 3: Buy some toysYou are going to need some fitness equipment to follow along with the program. So head to your local fitness or sporting goods store (even Target stocks up on a lot of these items) and pick up the following items:

Set of handweights – you will need some light and heavy options. For me, I would pick up a set of 5, 10, 15 and 20 pound hand weights. If that’s not an option, chose 5 and 10 pound weights. If you are a guy, go with some heavier options.

A step/bench – we will use this a lot to step up onto, to use as a bench to lie on or sit on

A medicine ball – Go for a 5 – 8 pound ball

A kettlebell – Go for a 8-15 pound option

An elastic band exercise tube with handles – Go for a medium/hard resistance

A skipping rope

If you are going to be following along with the program on hard floors, pick up a mat. You won’t need a mat if you will be on carpet.

Note: I will provide options for any exercise if you don’t have any of the pieces of equipment listed above so don’t be detoured if you can’t find the time or money to pick up these items.

So take the next week to prepare and be ready for a “Love Yourself” kick-butt workout and nutrition plan. Keep in mind, it would be pretty awesome to Love your best friend, your spouse, your kids, your co-worker, your sister, your brother, your mom, dad, your neighbor and invite them to join in the program too!